Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/1474 of 14 September 2021 extending the definitive anti-dumping duty imposed by Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/2384 and Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/271 on imports of certain aluminium foil originating in the People’s Republic of China to imports of certain aluminium foil consigned from Thailand, whether declared as originating in Thailand or not

Published date15 September 2021
Date of Signature14 September 2021
Official Gazette PublicationOfficial Journal of the European Union, L 325, 15 September 2021
L_2021325EN.01000601.xml
15.9.2021 EN Official Journal of the European Union L 325/6

COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING REGULATION (EU) 2021/1474

of 14 September 2021

extending the definitive anti-dumping duty imposed by Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/2384 and Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/271 on imports of certain aluminium foil originating in the People’s Republic of China to imports of certain aluminium foil consigned from Thailand, whether declared as originating in Thailand or not

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to Regulation (EU) 2016/1036 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 8 June 2016 on protection against dumped imports from countries not members of the European Union (1) (‘the basic Regulation’) and in particular Article 13 thereof,

Whereas:

1. PROCEDURE

1.1. Previous investigation and existing measures

(1) In October 2009, by Council Regulation (EC) No 925/2009, (2) the Council imposed a definitive anti-dumping duty on imports of certain aluminium foil (‘jumbo rolls’) originating in, amongst others, the People’s Republic of China (‘PRC’) following an anti-dumping investigation (‘the original investigation’). The measures took the form of an ad valorem duty ranging between 6,4 % and 30,0 %.
(2) In December 2015, by Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/2384, (3) the European Commission (‘the Commission’) maintained the definitive measures (‘the measures in force’) on imports from the PRC following an expiry review pursuant to Article 11(2) of the basic Regulation (‘the review investigation’).
(3) In February 2017, by Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/271, (4) the Commission extended the measures in force to imports of slightly modified certain aluminium foil from the PRC, following an anti-circumvention investigation pursuant to Article 13(3) of the basic Regulation (‘the previous anti-circumvention investigation’).

1.2. Request

(4) The Commission received a request pursuant to Articles 13(3) and 14(5) of the basic Regulation to investigate the possible circumvention of the anti-dumping measures imposed on imports of certain aluminium foil originating in the PRC by imports consigned from Thailand, whether declared as originating in Thailand or not, and to make such imports subject to registration.
(5) The request was lodged on 9 November 2020. The applicant requested anonymity both at application stage and for the duration of the investigation. The applicant duly substantiated its request, which was accepted by the Commission as it considered there were sufficient grounds to grant confidentiality of its identity.
(6) The request contained sufficient evidence of a change in the pattern of trade involving exports from the PRC and Thailand to the Union that had taken place following the imposition of measures on jumbo rolls. This change appeared to stem from the consignment of jumbo rolls via Thailand to the Union after having undergone assembly operations in Thailand. The request also contained sufficient evidence showing that such assembly operations constituted circumvention as Chinese parts accounted for more than 60 % of the total value of the assembled product, while the value added during the assembly operation was lower than 25 % of the manufacturing cost.
(7) Furthermore, the request contained sufficient evidence that the practice described above was undermining the remedial effects of the existing anti-dumping measures in terms of quantities and prices. In addition, there was sufficient evidence that the prices of jumbo rolls consigned from Thailand were dumped in relation to the normal value previously established for jumbo rolls.

1.3. Product concerned and product under investigation

(8) The product concerned is aluminium foil of a thickness of not less than 0,008 mm and not more than 0,018 mm, not backed, not further worked than rolled, in rolls of a width not exceeding 650 mm and of a weight exceeding 10 kg, classified on the date of entry into force of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/2384 under CN code ex 7607 11 19 (TARIC code 7607111910), aluminium foil of a thickness of not less than 0,007 mm and less than 0,008 mm, regardless of the width of the rolls, whether or not annealed, classified on the date of entry into force of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/271 under CN code ex 7607 11 19 (TARIC code 7607111930), aluminium foil of a thickness of not less than 0,008 mm and not more than 0,018 mm and in rolls of a width exceeding 650 mm, whether or not annealed, classified on the date of entry into force of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/271 under CN code ex 7607 11 19 (TARIC code 7607111940), aluminium foil of a thickness of more than 0,018 mm and less than 0,021 mm, regardless of the width of the rolls, whether or not annealed, classified on the date of entry into force of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/271 under CN code ex 7607 11 19 (TARIC code 7607111950), and/or aluminium foil of a thickness of not less than 0,021 mm and not more than 0,045 mm, when presented with at least two layers, regardless of the width of the rolls, whether or not annealed, classified on the date of entry into force of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/271 under CN code ex 7607 11 90 (TARIC codes 7607119045 and 7607119080) and originating in the People’s Republic of China (‘the product concerned’). This is the product to which the measures in force currently apply.
(9) The product under investigation is the same as that defined in the preceding recital, currently falling under CN codes ex 7607 11 19 (TARIC codes 7607111910, 7607111930, 7607111940, 7607111950) and ex 7607 11 90 (TARIC codes 7607119044, 7607119046, 7607119071, 7607119072), but consigned from Thailand, whether declared as originating in Thailand or not (TARIC additional code C601), (‘the product under investigation’).
(10) The investigation showed that jumbo rolls exported from the PRC to the Union and jumbo rolls consigned from Thailand, whether originating in Thailand or not, have the same basic physical and chemical characteristics and have the same uses, and are therefore to be considered as like products within the meaning of Article 1(4) of the basic Regulation.

1.4. Initiation

(11) Having determined, after having informed the Member States, that sufficient evidence existed for the initiation of an investigation pursuant to Article 13(3) of the basic Regulation, the Commission initiated an investigation by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/2162 on 21 December 2020 (5) (‘the initiating Regulation’) and made imports of jumbo rolls consigned from Thailand, whether declared as originating in Thailand or not, subject to registration in accordance with Article 14(5) of the basic Regulation.

1.5. Comments on initiation

(12) After initiation, Dingheng New Materials Co., Ltd, Thai Ding Li New Materials Co., Ltd and their related companies (together ‘the Dingsheng Group’) argued that the initiation of the investigation was unwarranted. (6)
(13) According to the Dingsheng Group, the request leading to the opening of the investigation did not contain the required prima facie evidence. It claimed that the information in the request was outdated, as it was based on a period until December 2019, while the investigation was initiated in December 2020. The Dingsheng Group argued that this is in contrast with Article 6(1) of the basic Regulation, which states that the investigation period ‘shall, normally, cover a period of no less than six months immediately prior to the initiation of proceedings’.
(14) In addition, the Dingsheng Group claimed that the export statistics reported in the request were inaccurate and unreliable. These statistics were based on CN codes and HS codes (7), which include a number of different products other than those relevant to the investigation and thus cannot be considered sufficient evidence.
(15) The Commission disagreed. With regard to the reference period used in the request, Article 6(1) of the basic Regulation concerns the investigation period to be used during the investigation, not the period on which the request is based. The Dingsheng Group has not argued that the use of more recent data would have led to a different conclusion with regard to the alleged circumvention practices. With regard to the customs statistics on which the request was based, the applicant provided those statistics that were reasonably available to it for the purpose of the request, as required by Article 5(2) of the basic Regulation. In any case, when analysing the request, the Commission cross-checked the data provided by the applicant against statistics at 10-digit TARIC level and including data until September 2020. This analysis confirmed the allegations in the request.
(16) Following disclosure the Dingsheng Group reiterated its claim that the request was based on outdated information and that Article 6(1) in conjunction with Article 13(3) of the basic Regulation requires the Commission to carry out an overall examination of the accuracy of the request, including whether the information contained therein is up-to-date. Therefore, according to the Dingsheng Group, the Commission should have requested the applicant to update the figures contained in the request with more recent information. Otherwise, ‘applicants requesting the initiation of an anti-circumvention investigation would be free to base the request on the period that suits better to them, without any limitation’.
(17) In addition, the Dingsheng Group claimed that, although the Commission cross-checked the information provided by the applicant with more recent TARIC level data,
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